Towards Truth
by littleoases
Summary: "And I—" Santana tilts her head back, catching tears in her throat. She stares at the ceiling of her car. "I don't want to keep you a secret anymore, Britt." Brittana moment after Santana comes out to her abuela in 3x07.


_Maybe a great magnet pulls all souls towards truth._

Author's Note: Takes place during 3x07, right after Santana comes out to her abuela.

Brittany's in the middle of choosing an outfit when her phone goes off.

_I'm in your driveway_, Santana's text says. _Come down please?_

Brittany grins and practically skips out of her bedroom.

"I wasn't expecting you for another hour," Brittany says when she opens the car door.

Santana turns toward her. Her face is a mess: red and puffy with tear tracks streaking her cheeks.

"Oh," Brittany utters in surprise. "Santana—"

Her words are cut short by a great sob from Santana. Brittany clambers into the car, shuts the door, and leans over the console to wrap both arms around her.

Santana sobs; her body shakes. She holds tightly to Brittany, burying her face in Brittany's neck. Brittany grips her tighter, hoping that maybe Santana will stop hurting if she holds her hard enough.

"What happened?" Brittany whispers in her ear.

Santana continues to cry and shake. Brittany's neck and shoulder start to feel wet. She cradles the back of Santana's head and tries to calm her with soothing noises.

Santana pulls away from her. "Can't—breathe," she chokes out.

Brittany pulls back and settles herself in the passenger seat. She holds Santana's hand over the console and waits for her to calm down. She massages Santana's hand, rubbing her knuckles and wrist bone gently.

"Abuela kicked me out," Santana finally says.

Brittany's whole body deflates. She breathes out and waits to hear more.

"I told her, and she just—she told me to leave."

Brittany leans her head against the headrest. She thought everything was getting lighter, but now it's the heaviest it's ever been. "What'd you tell her?" she asks.

"That I fall in love with girls." Santana pauses. "That I'm in love with you."

"You told her that?"

Santana looks at her. "Of course. I just—I wanted to tell somebody, you know? Somebody special." She swallows hard. "It felt so nice to tell someone about you. To share how happy I am."

Brittany wonders if Santana knows how perfect she is, even when she's broken.

"She told me I should have kept it a secret," Santana says. Her voice starts to sound angry. "A _secret_, Britt. And you know why? Because I was making her _uncomfortable_." She shakes her head in disbelief and glares at the windshield. "Keep everything in the dark, Santana. Don't tell anyone, Santana. Don't let anyone know how _dirty _you are, how _disgusting _you are, how _sinful _you are."

Brittany bites her lip but doesn't speak.

"It was like—" Santana's voice starts to break—"like everything I've been fighting against the past year. Deny it. Bury it away. Pretend it doesn't exist. You know?"

"Yeah."

"And I—" Santana tilts her head back, catching tears in her throat. She stares at the ceiling of her car. "I don't want to keep you a secret anymore, Britt." Her chest heaves a little bit; she wipes her eyes. "I'm so tired of feeling like what I have with you is shameful. It's not. I love you and I feel _happy_ about it."

Brittany slides her fingers into Santana's. She pulls Santana's hand to her mouth and kisses her knuckles.

"I just wanted her to understand," says Santana. "I wanted her to feel happy for me. What kind of grandmother disowns her granddaughter?"

Brittany shakes her head slowly. "I don't know."

"Some fucking week it's been."

"Some fucking week," Brittany echoes.

"And now our date's ruined."

"Don't worry about that. We can go out tomorrow night or something."

"But I wanted to go tonight. I got all dressed up and everything."

"I can see that," Brittany says. Her eyes roam over all over Santana's body. "You look so pretty."

Santana gives her a watery smile. "I wanted to look good for you."

Brittany smiles back. "You always look good for me."

"Yeah? With my mascara running and everything?"

"Totally. It's one of your best looks."

Santana lets out a small laugh and wipes at her eyes again.

Brittany brushes Santana's bangs to the side. "What can I do to make you feel better?"

"Can you make everybody stop sucking so bad?"

"Unfortunately, no. If I could, Rachel Berry would be a totally different person by now."

Santana laughs hard at that. She tugs forcefully on Brittany's hand, trying to pull Brittany's whole body toward her. Brittany catches on and leans across the center console. Santana pulls her all the way to her mouth. They kiss each other tenderly. Then Santana kisses her again.

"You make everything better," Santana whispers.

Brittany kisses her. "You know what else makes everything better?"

"What?"

"Ice cream and chick flicks. Come on, let's go sit in my basement and have a cozy date."

They hold hands as they walk into Brittany's house. Brittany's parents look up from the couch in the family room, where they're watching television, and act like they don't notice that Santana's been crying. Their eyes focus instead on Brittany and Santana's interlocked fingers, but both parents only smile faintly at the sight.

"Still going on that date?" Brittany's mom asks.

"We're going to stay in tonight," Brittany replies. "We're kinda tired."

"Nothing wrong with being a homebody," says Brittany's dad. "You want to watch _20/20_ with us?"

"No thanks, Dad. I think we're going to watch a movie instead."

Mr. Pierce nods and wraps an arm around his wife. "Well, have fun," he says as Brittany and Santana walk toward the basement stairs. "Don't be up too late."

"Enjoy your movie," Brittany's mother calls. "And be good!"

Brittany rolls her eyes as she and Santana walk down the stairs.

They choose _She's the Man_ from the DVD collection in the basement. It's one of their favorite movies to watch together. Brittany places it in the DVD player and messes with the remote for a minute before the DVD Menu screen pops up.

She smiles triumphantly at Santana, who's curled up in a blanket on the couch, watching her.

Brittany pulls the blanket up and climbs over Santana so she can lay down behind her. They settle in to each other's bodies and readjust the blanket. Brittany loops one arm around Santana's waist, holding her, protecting her.

"Your parents are so cool about this," Santana says as the movie's opening sequence starts up.

"They are," Brittany agrees. She brushes Santana's hair off her neck and kisses the skin there. "I guess some people will be and some people won't be."

"I wish my abuela would be," Santana says shakily.

"Me too," Brittany whispers.

Santana takes a deep steadying breath. "It's scary—to think that more people might cut us out of their lives just because of this. I thought that if I was brave and owned up to it…that nothing bad would happen."

Brittany nods against Santana's neck. "It is scary. But…we just have to go one step at a time and hope for the best in people." When Santana doesn't respond, she adds, "We'll take it slowly and gently, sweetheart. Not everyone's going to react like this. And we don't have to tell everyone we meet."

"I know."

"I'm so proud of you," Brittany tells her.

Santana pulls Brittany's arm more tightly around her.

They both pass out somewhere near the middle of the movie, and neither of them hears Brittany's mom when she calls down to say goodnight. Mrs. Pierce steps quietly down to the basement to check on them; when she sees them cuddled up together, fast asleep and holding each other close, her heart tightens with sadness and swells with love. She tucks them in and kisses their foreheads. And as she trudges up the stairs with a worried heart, she prays silently that they will know strength and the world will know truth.


End file.
